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Today the Trek starts. The parents say their last good-byes.
The moment is a little sad for the parents and exciting for the students embarking on a big adventure.
Many students have not left their parents for this long before. This trek gives students a
chance to handle themselves for an extended time without parents. This hopefully improves
their communication skills. The students are not allowed to carry walkmans, radios,
disc, MP3 or game players, or cell phones.
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These students are checking the list on the wall to see which of the two buses they ride in.
They want to know who is sitting around them. This is important because they
will be sitting near these people for many hours when they are on the bus. The students also
help us because when someone is missing, they know who it is.
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Mr. Warren Sedar hands student workbooks to Mr. Phil Puccinelli who will distribute them to students.
There is something to do in the workbook each day. Students must return to class with the filled out
workbook after the Trek. Plenty of time is given students to work on their workbooks during the Trek.
Adult chaperones check the progress on each student's workbook regularly.
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It's time to board the buses. If someone does not show up on time we leave without
them. Students get on the bus with the workbook, a lunch, and a duffle bag with tooth brush and
swim suit and a change of underwear. Here Mr.Peter Clifford checks that students have their
workbooks. The first day is a long bus ride to a motel in Needles CA.where there is a swimming
pool.
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The parents watch as the bus full of students prepares to leave. It's a sad moment
for the parents. They won't see their children for ten days. There are two buses
and several chaperone vehicles. Adults on the vehicles communicate using cell phones
(we used to do this using CB radios). Cell phones are a big improvement over CB radios.
They work well on the road but not in the Havasu canyon. Walkie-Talkies are used in the canyon
but their reliability depends on the terrain. The chaperone vehicles stop for gas more often
than the buses, but can catch up with the buses quickly. Also chaperone vehicles can forge ahead
of the buses to make sandwiches for lunch breaks.
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